I am republishing this article by Giorgio Agamben – a philosopher who ranges from aesthetics to linguistics – on "prepositions, and perhaps on adverbs," published on Quodlibet.it.

“To free our thoughts from the shackles that prevent them from taking flight, it is essential first to train ourselves not to think in nouns (which, as the name itself unmistakably betrays, imprison us in that 'substance,' with which a millennia-old tradition has believed it could grasp being), but rather (as William James once suggested) in prepositions and perhaps in adverbs. The fact that thought, that the mind itself, has, so to speak, a non-substantial but adverbial character is beautifully illustrated by the singular fact that in our language, to form an adverb, one simply adds the term 'mente' to an adjective: amorosamente, crudelmente, meravigliosamente.

The noun – the substantial – is quantitative and imposing; the adverb is qualitative and light; and if you find yourself in difficulty, it will not be a 'what,' but a 'how,' an adverb and not a noun that will help you. 'What to do?' paralyzes and pins you down; only 'how to do?' opens a way out.

Thus, to think about time, which has always put the minds of philosophers to the test, nothing is more useful than to rely – as poets do – on adverbs: 'always,' 'never,' 'already,' 'immediately,' 'again' – and perhaps – of all, the most mysterious – 'while.' 'While' (from Latin: dum, interim) does not designate a time but a 'meanwhile,' that is, a curious simultaneity between two actions or two times.

Its equivalent in verb forms is the gerund, which is neither a verb nor a noun in the strictest sense, but implies a verb or a noun to accompany: 'but it goes and while going listens,' says Virgil to Dante, and everyone remembers Pascoli’s Romagna, 'the land where, while going, the azure vision of San Marino accompanies us.' Let us reflect on this special time, which we can think of only through an adverb and a gerund: it is not a measurable interval between two times, nor is it even a time in the proper sense; rather, it is almost an immaterial place where we somehow dwell, in a sort of subdued and interlocutory permanence.

True thought is not that which deduces and infers according to a before and an after: 'I think, therefore I am,' but, more soberly: 'while I think, I am.' And the time we live is not the abstract and breathless flight of elusive moments: it is this simple, motionless 'while,' in which we are always already – without even noticing it – our trivial eternity, which no weary clock will ever measure.”

Giorgio Agamben
Mentre
Quodlibet.it
March 14, 2024

Ps. I’ll keep quiet and learn; you do as you wish.